To help automakers meet stringent fuel economy and greenhouse
gas emission standards proposed by President Barack Obama,
the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
the Department of Transportation and AISI’s Steel Market
Development Institute (SMDI) announced that it is developing
stronger, lighter and more affordable grades of advanced
high-strength steels (AHSS) that will help automakers
achieve the new tough standards announced by President
Obama.

“Over the past decade, the North American steel industry
has continued to reinvent new grades of steel that improve
safety and help to reduce vehicle weight,” said David
C. Jeanes, P.E., president of SMDI. “Today’s advanced
high-strength steels can reduce a vehicle’s structural
weight by as much as 25 to 32 percent, which can help
reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, making these
new steels among the most environmentally friendly materials
available for future vehicles.”

On September 15, President Obama detailed his administration’s
proposed new fuel economy standards and the first-ever
national greenhouse gas emissions requirements, which
could cut American oil consumption by 1.8 billion gallons
over the life of vehicles produced from 2012 to 2016
and reduce emissions by nearly 950 million metric tons.
The proposed mandate would require passenger cars and
light trucks to meet a 35.5 miles-per-gallon industry
average – about a 5 percent increase each year – and
a combined average limit of 250 grams of CO2 emissions
per mile, beginning in 2016.

“Beyond tailpipe emissions, automakers and consumers
need to address the total carbon footprint of vehicles
by considering their impact over their full life cycle,”
said Ron Krupitzer, vice president of automotive applications
for AISI’s SMDI. “Of course, reducing tailpipe emissions
is important. However, if we do that without regard to
the carbon consequences of building vehicles or retiring
them from service, it is possible that carmakers could
make poor environmental choices with the materials they
use to build cars and trucks.”

According to Krupitzer, steel can help reduce total life
cycle CO2 emissions by virtue of its mass reduction capability,
its relatively low energy CO2 intensity compared to other
materials (e.g., about 25 percent of that of aluminum
or less than 15 percent of that of magnesium) and its
total recyclability.

A recent study by research firm, Ducker Worldwide, shows
that AHSS is the fastest-growing material in today’s
new vehicles, which indicates that automakers already
see the benefits of these new steels in terms of cost,
mass reduction, fuel efficiency and safety. According
to the study, because of these advantages, manufacturers
will continue to expand the implementation of these grades
to meet the new fuel economy requirements, while maintaining
crash safety and affordability.